Ada's CHERUB
by kumikokat
Summary: Kerry's daughter Ada has passed basic training, but will she sink or swim at CHERUB? Sequel to Happily Ever After. It is not necessary but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to read that first. COMPLETE.
1. Hostilities and Alliances

**NOTE: "Ada's CHERUB" is the sequel to my story "Happily Ever After". Reading that first is not necessary but highly recommended. **

**NOTE 2: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter One: Hostilities and Alliances**

"Um…bye, Emily," Ada Chang said awkwardly.

Her red shirt roommate, Emily, was lying face down on her bed, sulking. She had been lying like that for hours.

"C'mon Emily," Ada tried, "you'll pass next time."

Emily shifted so she was facing the wall. Ada let out a long sigh and lifted the last cardboard box off the floor. The room looked strangely empty now. Only Emily's clothes hung in the wardrobe, and the shelves were empty without Ada's vast collection of well-thumbed paperbacks.

In a strange way, Ada was almost sad to have passed basic training. It meant leaving the familiar room, and her best friend.

But Emily was sulking. And Ada had no patience with people who sulked.

She turned and left the room.

Outside, she dumped the cardboard box with the others on the back of a CHERUB golf cart and drove up to the main building.

_____________________

Ada's new room was _amazing_.

It had taken her hours to unpack everything, and now there was only one box left. Fittingly, there were a few shelves left too. Ada carried the box over to the empty shelves and opened it. It was full of little trinkets and things, most of which had belonged to her mother.

Wistfulness filled Ada. Her Uncle James had told her so much about her mother, and even though she didn't properly remember her, she missed her every day.

Ada started filled the remaining shelves with tiny boxes, porcelain ornaments, and one marble Tae Kwon Do trophy (_that_ was her own).

Now everything was in its proper place. Perfect.

Ada padded into the bathroom and caught sight of her reflection. The new grey shirt made her feel so grown up. She swelled with excitement and pride.

But still, something was missing…

Ada was lonely.

With Emily not speaking to her, and all her other red shirt friends still red shirts, Ada had no one to talk to.

So the first order of business was to make some friends.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled open her door, marched across the hall and knocked loudly on her neighbour's door.

After a few moments, the door swung open.

The boy who stood there looked about Ada's age, maybe a little older. He was skinny, a grey shirt, and he had black hair and violently blue eyes.

"I'm Ada," Ada said falteringly.

"I'm Kade," he grinned.

"Uh…were you a red shirt? 'Cause I don't remember seeing you-,"

"No. I went straight into basic training," Kade grinned, "listen, can we continue this conversation downstairs? I'm starving."

"Sure," Ada shrugged, pausing only to lock her door. She followed Kade to the stairwell.

It looked like she'd made a friend.

That was fast.

**I know it was a short chapter, but I just wanted to set the scene for the rest of the story. **

**The next chapter will be longer…and better.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please review! **


	2. Dr Pepper and broken bones

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter two: Dr. Pepper and broken bones**

Kade led Ada to a table which was already occupied by four people.

"Ada, this is Meryn," a girl with a heart-shaped face and mousy brown hair raised her palm in greeting, "Ali," a tall boy who reminded Ada of a praying mantis nodded towards her, "Becca," a pale girl with white blonde hair grinned mischievously, "and Aaron," Aaron was well built with scruffy blonde hair, "people, this is Ada."

All of Kade's friends were about the same age as Ada, and all seemed friendly enough.

"I'm gonna get some food," she muttered, walking over and joining the queue. A few seconds later, Kade joined her.

"So, did you just get your grey shirt?" he asked, picking up two trays and handing her one.

"Yup. Just moved over from the red shirt building."

"Get a timetable yet?" Kade asked.

"Right here." Ada pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her back pocket. Kade took it and scanned it.

"Ooh, you have Mr. Adams for maths? That's rough."

"Not really," Ada shrugged, "he's my uncle."

Kade's eyes widened.

"He's…you're uncle?"

"Well, not technically," Ada sighed, "he was a friend of my mum's."

"Who was your mum? I mean, if you don't mind telling me."

"No, not at all," Ada shrugged, "her name was Kerry Chang."

Later, Ada would swear Kade's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"She's one of the most famous agents of all time! Her and Lauren, obviously."

They had their food now. Ada began walking towards Kade's table, where Meryn, Ali, Becca, and Aaron were laughing hysterically at something.

"Oh, you still have my timetable!" She remembered.

She stopped so suddenly that Kade walked straight into her, spilling his open can of Dr. Pepper all down the back of her new grey shirt.

They looked at each other for a second, then burst out laughing.

__________________

There was a sickening snap from across the room.

Ada pinned her opponent Alicia to the floor of the dojo and then looked up to see what had happened.

Kade was on the ground.

Bruce – well, Mr. Norris, but everyone just called him Bruce – helped him up and said something to Aaron, one of Kade's friends that Ada had met at lunch. Kade put his arm round Aaron's shoulders and hobbled out of the dojo, pausing to grin goofily at Ada as he passed.

While Ada was distracted, Alicia pulled her arms away and kneed Ada in the back, sending her sprawling across the mat. Alicia sprung catlike to her feet and advanced.

Ada didn't have that trophy for nothing.

She rolled onto her side. When Alicia got close enough, she put one of her feet on Alicia's knee and the other behind her ankle, and pulled.

Alicia toppled to the ground, stunned.

"Very good, Ada," Bruce chuckled, walking past.

Alicia practically growled. She got back to her feet and threw a kick at Ada's head. Ada weaved under the kick and slammed the heel of her hand into Alicia's nose.

_Snap._

Oops.

Alicia gasped as blood started to pour from her nose. It was at a strange angle, too.

Ada didn't even think she'd done it that hard. There was too much risk of the nose-getting-lodged-in-brain thing for that.

"Head over to the infirmary, Alicia," Bruce called from a few metres away, "when Aaron comes back, Ada can be his partner."

_____________

Ada was a little nervous, actually.

Standing outside Lauren Adams's office was always nerve-wracking. But apart from breaking Alicia's nose, Ada couldn't think of a single thing she'd done wrong.

"Come in!"

Ada opened the door.

Lauren was smiling. That had to be a good sign. She gestured for Ada to take a seat.

"Now, this will seem a little unorthodox. After all, it is only your second day of being a grey shirt. But, the thing is, we're kind of stuck and he recommended you," Lauren sighed.

"Who recommended me?" Ada raised an eyebrow.

"Kade," Lauren said, "he was meant to go on a mission next week, but he broke his leg today – I think you were there, actually – and we need someone to take his place."

"Me?" Ada was stunned. Was she _ready_ to go on a mission?

"You can always refuse," Lauren reminded her, "but I suggest you meet tomorrow with Connor Reilly, the mission controller for this mission, before you decide. Your appointment is at eleven. Use this to get out of your lesson."

Ada took the white slip with Lauren's elegant signature at the bottom.

"Oh, and Ada?"

"Yes?"

"If you're anything like your mother, you have nothing to worry about."

**Thank you for reading! Please review, I love hearing what you think!**


	3. Briefing

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter three: Briefing**

** Classified **

Mission Briefing:

For Meryn Appleby, Lillith McKendrick,

Jack Miller and Ada Chang

Do not remove from the Mission Preparation Building

Do not copy or make notes

1. Sophie Ingram

Sophie Ingram was released from an unknown foreign prison in the year 2000 and travelled to Britain, claiming she wanted to make a better life for herself. Upon arrival, she started selling weapons to known terrorists. Terrorists found with these weapons claimed it was she whom they had received them from, but when her home was searched nothing was found.

In 2003 Sophie was found in possession of a number of weapons, but not enough to jail her for more than a year. Under threat of deportation, Sophie became more careful than ever but a worryingly large amount of groups and individuals were still found to have weapons allegedly supplied by her.

2. The Ingram Children

In 2005, Sophie finally received visas for her four children who immediately moved to Britain to join her. Until 2005, these children lived in Hong Kong with their Chinese father. This is why the four agents chosen for this mission all speak mandarin Chinese.

3. The role of CHERUB 

Each CHERUB agent will befriend an Ingram child and attempt to gain entry to and search Sophie's home. They will also gain any entry about Sophie and her line of business as possible. Each agent will be placed in the same class as the Ingram in question. If it proves impossible to befriend said Ingram, the agent should try to befriend another, or a close friend of an Ingram.

The CHERUBs will be posing as the adopted children of mission controllers Gabrielle O'Brien and Connor Reilly. To minimise confusion, all agents will keep their normal first names but replace their last names with the name Bryson.

Below is who each agent will attempt to befriend.

Lillith McKendrick – Jia Ingram

Jack Miller – Shun Ingram

Meryn Appleby – Xiang Ingram

Ada Chang – Kun Ingram

NOTE: On the sixteenth day of July 2009 this mission plan was unanimously accepted by the CHERUB ethics committee.

-This mission has been classed as HIGH RISK.

-All agents are reminded of their rights to refuse to undertake this mission or withdraw from it at any time.

Ada finished reading the briefing.

"Well, what do you think?" Connor asked, leaning over the desk and steepling his fingers slowly.

"I'm in," Ada grinned, "I just hope Kun likes me."

**Thank you for reading! Please review, I love hearing what you think!**

**I know that was VERY SHORT I just kind of wanted to introduce the mission. Chapters will get longer from here on out. **


	4. Dragonfly

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter four: Dragonfly **

Ada threw the last pair of socks into her suitcase. She was ready to go.

She was actually going on a mission.

Wow.

She slumped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to stop her stomach from hurting. She was so nervous.

"Knock knock!"

Startled, Ada sat up.

"Uncle James!" She sprang off the bed, grinning, and hugged him.

"So, you're going on your first mission," James began, "where is it you're going?"

"Glasgow," Ada shrugged.

"Scotland. Nice place." James drew a small white box out of his back pocket.

"Oh no, Uncle James, you didn't need to."

"I wanted to," he grinned, handing her the white box, "happy first mission."

Ada took the box from him and opened it. Nestled in the white silk was a tiny sterling silver dragonfly with wings the most beautiful colour of green Ada had ever seen.

"Thank you!" She gasped. James picked up the tiny dragonfly and Ada held out her wrist for him to clip it onto her bracelet, which was becoming quite heavy.

"Good luck, Ada."

_____________

"Meryn!" Ada sprinted across the grass towards the car park, her suitcase clutched in her arms. It wasn't half heavy.

"Oh, hey Ada!" Meryn grinned, turning round.

"Sorry I'm late," Ada gasped, "got held up."

"It doesn't matter. Gabrielle and Connor aren't even here yet," Meryn shrugged.

A tall girl with long red hair and fiery eyes grabbed Ada's hand and started shaking it enthusiastically.

"I don't think we've met," she said happily, "I'm Lillith McKendrick."  
Lillith had a black shirt and looked about seventeen. Ada decided she liked her.

"I'm Jack," a boy of about fifteen mumbled.

"Don't worry, he's like that to everyone," Lillith laughed, whacking Jack playfully on the shoulder.

"He is," Meryn agreed.

Jack threw them both filthy looks. Ada decided she liked him, too.

"Don't panic! We're here!"

Ada looked up. Gabrielle O'Brien and Connor Reilly were jogging across the grass from the mission preparation building. Gabrielle was clutching a briefcase that looked like it had seen better days and a laptop bag was slung across her shoulders, bouncing wildly as she ran.

"And we always get in trouble for being late," Lillith mumbled under her breath.

Ada hid her smile.

____________

"Six hundred and ninety seven bottles of beer on the wall, six hundred and ninety seven bottles of beer! Take one down and pass it around, six hundred and ninety six bottles of beer on the wall!"

The only one not singing merrily was Jack. Even Gabrielle and Connor had joined in.

It turned out Glasgow was much further away than Ada had first thought.

When the group got to six hundred and thirty nine bottles of beer, Gabrielle called a halt to the song.

"Has everyone studied their target's profile extensively?" She asked seriously.

"Yes," Ada droned with the others.

"You sure?" Gabrielle's eyes narrowed.

"Yes!"

"Do you want to take another lo-,"

"Stop worrying Gabrielle!" Lillith laughed, "everything will be _fine_."

**Thank you for reading! Please review, I love hearing what you think!**


	5. Kun

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter five: Kun**

The little council house was nothing special.

It was the day after their arrival, and Ada was sitting on a low wall outside a little café with Meryn, watching the door of the Ingram home.

Ada had expected Sophie Ingram's house to be a bit more…well, nice. And bigger. Possibly with a swimming pool. But it was just an ordinary council house with small windows and peeling paint.

Ada took another bite of her piece of Tiffin. It was delicious. She hadn't been able to stop eating them since she'd gotten to Glasgow – she'd never tried them before.

"Ada! Look!" Meryn nudged her, almost knocking the Tiffin out of her hand. The door of the house was opening and a girl was coming out.

"That's Kun!" Ada gasped, recognising her from the photo in her profile.

"Go then!" Meryn grunted, snatching the Tiffin away. Ada stuck out her tongue and followed Kun along the road.

Kun definitely didn't look ordinary. She had long, silky black hair but her side-fringe was died electric blue, and she was wearing a short, tartan dress with a puffed-out skirt. In one pale hand she carried a furled black parasol and she was wearing knee-high boots with amazingly high platform heels. Ada had always been tall, but next to Kun she felt very short.

She followed Kun for a while before she ran up to her and, feigning breathlessness, asked her where she got her dress.

"Oh…my English…not good…" Kun spoke in a heavily accented voice and her pronunciation was wrong.

"Chinese then?" Ada asked, switching effortlessly. She laughed at the surprise on Kun's pretty face. "Me and my adopted brother and sisters just moved here from Hong Kong."

"So did I!" Kun gasped, laughing, "What school do you go to?"

"I start at Glasgow Academy tomorrow," Ada told her, "but I'm not looking forward to it."  
"That's my school!" Kun was grinning widely now.

"So, before I asked you where you got your dress. It's amazing!" Ada gushed.

"Oh, I got it in Tokyo. My dad has an apartment there and we used to go five times a year. I fell in love with the fashion there!"

"It's really cool," Ada said honestly, "do you know where I can get a dress like that?"

"Nowhere here that I know of sells Lolita dresses anywhere near the quality of the ones in Tokyo…but I guess you could borrow some of mine."

"Really? That'd be great…um, I'm Ada."

"Kun. Kun Ingram," Kun told her, "Nice to meet you, Ada-chan."

The girls shook hands.

"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Ada grinned.

"See you around, Ada-chan!"

__________

"She's Chinese, but she called me Ada-chan," Ada shook her head bemusedly, "its exceedingly random."

Meryn laughed, her mousy brown curls dancing around her face.

"You're lucky to have met yours today," she giggled, "apparently Xiang's the antisocial one. She never left the house all day."

At that moment the front door banged open and Lillith wandered in dressed in a Hello Kitty t-shirt, a grey cardigan and skinny jeans.

"What's happening people?" She reached over the counter and flicked on the power for the kettle, then joined Ada and Meryn at the kitchen table.

"Not much," Ada shrugged, "I made contact. Meryn didn't."

"What?" Lillith was clearly disappointed, "But you were watching the house all day!"

"Well she didn't leave," Meryn snapped, "and where the hell is Jack? We said nine, right?"

"It's only nine-oh-five." Ada pointed at the binary clock in the corner.

"I didn't know you understood binary." Lillith raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah Uncle James…I mean, Mr Adams, taught me."

Lillith looked like she was about to comment, but Jack sauntered into the kitchen before she could say a word.

"Well?" Lillith demanded.

"Shun is a prick, but I managed to convince him I felt differently," Jack shrugged, "making tea?"

"Yes. Want a mug?" Lillith stood up, opened a cabinet and pulled out four mugs.

"Please."

"School tomorrow," Meryn muttered to Ada, "fun, hmm?"

"Yeah," Ada laughed, "And I have to develop a Japanese-street-culture-loving personality before then."  
"Have fun!"

"I'll try, Meryn-chan!"

**Don't forget to review! I love hearing what you guys think! (Oh, and there are links to pictures of some objects featured in this story – e.g Kun's tartan Lolita dress – in my profile.) **


	6. School

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB, or the brand tokidoki. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter Six: School**

The next morning, Ada knew exactly how to get on Kun's good side.

She pulled on her uncomfortable school uniform and substituted the shoes for converse. She knew she was going to get in serious trouble for it, it was just that kind of school, but it would be worth it. Onto her bag, she pinned dozens of brightly coloured badges she'd borrowed from Lillith.

Ada got Meryn to help her put her hair up in high bunches, and then she swept dark, sparkly gloss over her lips.

Her appearance wasn't overly dramatic, but it would hopefully be enough to get her noticed.

When she went downstairs, she grinned crazily at everyone and addressed them as –chan or –kun, or in Connor and Gabrielle's case, -sama.

"Uh…Ada? You on a drug trip?" Jack grunted, looking her up and down.

Gabrielle thwacked him over the head playfully with her newspaper. Ada scowled at him.

"Shut up. It's for Kun."

"At least yours has some personality," Lillith moaned, "Jia is just a sometimes with a drinking problem."

The four agents looked at one another.

"I'll ask," Meryn giggled, "um, a _sometimes_?"

"Yeah, it's my word for someone boring with no personality."

"Why _sometimes_?" Ada asked confusedly.

Lillith looked thoughtful for a moment, then bewildered.

"You know, I have absolutely no idea. Must've been hammered at the time."

"You are the most random person I've ever met, Lillith," Jack laughed.

"Good." Lillith blinked, totally serious.

Jack laughed some more.

_____________

Just as Ada had anticipated, she got into serious trouble when she got to school.

The headmistress told her that her shoes were "inappropriate", the badges were "unnecessary," and her hair "conflicted with the uniform code".

She was given a punishment exercise and sent on her way. Ada loved it that on missions, you could get into trouble and it didn't matter. On campus, she was always the good girl. Here, she could be whomever she wanted.

She took the stairs two at a time and wandered through the door of her form classroom five minutes late. Everyone turned to stare at her. Ada fixed a casual, too-cool-for-school expression on her face, flashed the note from the head at the surprised-looking teacher, and went to the empty seat next to Kun, who was waving and gesturing that Ada should sit there.

"_Konnichi wa_, Ada-chan!" Kun grinned as Ada slumped down into the seat.

"Hey Kun-chan," Ada returned her warm, and totally genuine, smile, "I got into so much trouble for wearing these." She gestured towards her converse.

Kun snorted, and waved towards her own, brightly coloured converse.

"After a while, Ada-chan, they stop caring."

Ada's smile widened. Kun wore converse to school too. She had got this totally right. Everything was going perfectly.

___________

At lunch, Kun introduced Ada to her friends.

"This is Ai, Caitlin, and Em," she announced, leading Ada to a table where three girls sat. Ai was tall and willowy, with long hair that had clearly once been black but was now platinum blonde. Caitlin looked timid but she had a ferocious glint in her eye, and her plain face was framed by fiery red hair styled in a pixie cut. Em, too, was tall with long legs and equally long auburn hair that fell way past her waist.

"Hi!" Ada raised a hand in greeting.

"This is Ada Bryson," Kun told the group. Suddenly Ada realised that Kun was speaking Mandarin. And these girls could understand her.

Wow, what a multi-lingual group.

"Hey-hey, Ada-chan!" Ai said enthusiastically in English, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Ada's hand and started to shake it a little too exuberantly.

Em and Caitlin muttered "hey"s.

"Ada speaks mandarin," Kun told them, "sit down Ada-chan. I'll get you something."

Ada sat down next to Em, who was browsing through tracks on her iPod touch.

"Oh, cool," Ada grinned, "do you have the 3.0 software?"

"Of course," Em answered in fluent Mandarin.

"Em's like, the school's tech support," Caitlin supplied, "she's even better than the teachers."

"You like Tokidoki?" Ai asked.

"Um…Tokidoki?" Ada had no idea what she was talking about.

"The brand, Ada-chan!" Ai giggled, reaching over. She flipped Em's iPod round so that Ada could see the back.

Em's iPod had an amazingly cool cover on it. It was bright and had on it a girl and lots of little creature things, and in the top right hand corner was a heart and crossbones, and the word 'tokidoki' in white letters.

At that moment Kun came back carrying two trays. She set one down in front of Ada.

"Hey, Ada-chan? The girls are coming over to my house tonight for a sleepover. Want to come?"

**Don't forget to review! I love hearing what you guys think! (Oh, and there are links to pictures of some objects featured in this story – e.g Em's tokidoki iPod cover – in my profile.) **


	7. Sleepover

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB, or the brand tokidoki. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**I know I haven't updated in a while. Sorry about that, I've been pursuing other, original projects. But I've hit a creative wall so…here you go****. **

**Someone asked me why Ada's last name was still Chang when agents are supposed to change their last names. Kerry had already changed her last name. Plus I would get confused if she had any other name.**

**Chapter Seven: Sleepover**

There was no time to assemble a winning collection of outfits/pyjamas by that night, so Ada shoved a few of her more outrageous, but still kind of conservative, outfits into her purple backpack along with some cute pyjamas adorned with ducks that she thought Kun might appreciate. At the last second she remembered her toiletry bag, and filled up the space which wasn't being taken up by her essentials (toothbrush, soap, etc.) with some of Lillith's makeup.

"Ready?" Meryn asked her as she headed towards the front door.

"Nope."

"You'll do fine."

"I hope so."

Ada slipped out of the front door after bidding Gabrielle and Connor goodbye. She stood just outside the harsh low of the porch light for a moment, breathing deeply, and then headed off. It wasn't a long walk to Kun's house, and despite it being dark and kind of a dodgy area, Ada felt safe. She could look after herself, after all.

The disappointingly ordinary council house which Ada had staked out with Meryn the other day was instantly recognisable as it was the only one with a floodlit garden. Huge, industrial-strength lights had been fitted to the walls just beneath the upstairs windows, pointing down at the dying plants and brown grass. All the curtains had been pulled tightly shut, and the low gate was fitted with a heavy padlock. Ada didn't see the point in this last security measure. The gate was low enough to vault over, which was what she did. Before she could reach the door, it was thrown open by a visibly distressed Kun.

"Ada-chan! You didn't walk over here all by yourself, did you?"

"Um, yes." Ada was confused. Kun seemed angry.

"It's not safe!" Kun trotted out onto the grass in her pyjamas and fluffy slippers. "There's some real nutters live around here. It's dodgy."

"I can look after myself Kun-chan," Ada sighed, nervous and not really in the mood for a lecture.

"Would you still be saying that if you were mugged by some guy who was 6'3 and fourteen stone heavier than you?"

Ada shrugged.

"Right. Exactly. Now come in, come in! We're about to watch _Moulin Rouge." _

"That's my favourite movie!" Ada gasped, all her nerves now forgotten. She allowed Kun to pull her inside the house. The short hallway was carpeted in an ugly salmon-pink colour, the walls cream. She followed Kun up the staircase and into the first bedroom.

In here Ada could see the full extent of the Ingram's wealth. Kun's bed was a wide, king-size four poster. A large LCD TV was attached the wall, and underneath sat a tangle of cables among which Ada could make out a Wii, a PS3, an Xbox and numerous other consoles she didn't even recognise. An iPhone 3Gs was charging on the bedside table, along with the new iPod Nano and two other phones. At first Ada thought they belonged to Em, Ai, and Caitlin, but when she looked over to where they were lounging on the bed, all three of them were texting on their own phones.

"Uh, Kun-chan, why do you have three phones and an iPod when you already have an iPhone?" Ada just couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Ugh, you're going to regret this," Caitlin joked and the others laughed. Ada didn't get it until Kun launched into her long, long, long explanation.

"The iPhone is for everyday use, regular texting, calling and stuff. The Nano is for travelling – the memory's not as big but it's easy to carry. I take it to school as well. You're less likely to get jumped for a Nano than for an iPhone. That phone is the private line to my dad. I'm not allowed any other calls or texts on it. This one is the emergency phone. It has the longest battery life and it's got this tracing thing that you can trace even when it's off or broken. The chip's so small and it's fire resistant and-,"

Kun said some other stuff but Ada stopped listening. When Kun was finished, she ran downstairs and returned with a huge bowl of popcorn. The girls settled down in various places in Kun's room to watch the movie. Ai and Caitlin sat on the bed, leaning against the tall, cushioned headboard. Kun lounged across a large winged armchair and Ada sat with Em on the sofa. Ada relaxed the moment the haunting opening song sounded through the surround-sound speaker system, and the rainy black and white image of Paris filled the screen. Why had she been worried about this? She would have a good time and then, when everyone was asleep, she would have a look around the house and hopefully plant some bugs.

___________________

When the movie was finished, the girls set sleeping bags out on the carpet and sofa, spent a long time talking about random things, and then, one by one, dropped off to sleep. Ada made her breathing slow and heavy. It was a chore to fight off sleep, despite the nervous clamour in her head, but she waited until she was sure the other four girls were asleep before she moved.

She sat up and looked around, checking one last time that she was the only one awake. She rose silently to her feet and crept towards the door. She had been worried about a creak, but the door swung open quietly.

The hall was dark. Ada stood for a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust, and then moved ghostlike across the carpet. She knew from previous surveillance and searches that Sophie's study was the very last door. She waited outside, listening, and, judging it to be safe, entered. If there was anyone inside she could claim to have been looking for the bathroom.

The room was, mercifully, empty of people, but full of clutter. Papers littered every available surface. It would take months to sift through all of it. There was a large, old-looking wardrobe in the corner of the room, and was the only piece of furniture that could plausibly be used as a hiding place. Ada darted towards it and opened the door, her heart thudding against her ribcage.

There were more papers inside, but these seemed to be much better organized. Ada was sure she would find something of use in here, if only she had time to look through it all.

Someone moved in the corridor outside and Ada tensed. If anyone came in here she would have a hard time trying to explain what she was doing. Someone knocked on the front door downstairs and she listened as it was opened. Voices. The door closed. Footsteps on the stairs. The hushed voice of a man. The whisper of – Ada's heart almost stopped – Sophie Ingram.

The two, or possibly more, people stopped outside the door.

Ada needed no more excuse. She leapt inside the wardrobe and pulled the door closed quietly just as the door to the study began to sweep across the carpet.

**Thank you for reading! Please review, I love to hear what you think.**


	8. Tears

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB, or the brand tokidoki. **

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Chapter Eight: Tears**

The air inside the wardrobe was musty and smelled like damp and paper and ink.

Ada pulled her knees up to her chin and attempted to stay as still and quiet as possible.

"I don't know how you think I can pull something like that off in such a short time." The woman who was speaking was definitely Sophie, Ada recognised the voice from the police interview tapes Gabrielle had made her listen to.

"You're just going to have to." This voice, a man's, Ada did not recognise.

"It's impossible!" Sophie snapped.

"Make it possible."

Ada's breath caught as she heard the safety of a gun click off.

"Ok…ok, calm down. I don't think you want to be doing that." Ada was impressed by the calmness in Sophie's voice.

"Why not?" The man's tone was mocking. "Because your precious kids are in the house? Because the youngest has innocent friends over? Yes, I know Sophie. I've been watching this place for some time. Don't think I would hesitate to end their perfect little lives either."

There was silence for a moment. A stiff drawer scraped open. Papers rustled. Ada remembered the numerous tiny recording devices hidden in the pocket of the hoodie she had on over her thin pyjamas. Trying to stay as quiet as possible, she reached into the pocket and removed a bug. She curled her fist tightly around it before she enabled it to muffle the _beep_ meant to inform her that it was working. That was one hell of a design flaw. As Sophie began to speak again, Ada fixed the bug to the side of the wardrobe.

"Write down what you want on that," Sophie said, her voice empty, as if she'd given up.

A pen scratched on paper for a few minutes.

"Thank you for being so co-operative," the man said, "I tip my hat to you. I'll leave now, but I'll be back unless you get that stuff to me by the end of the week."

Ada listened to the floor creak, she guessed, as he turned away from Sophie. She relaxed, thinking he would leave, Sophie would go back to bed, and she could slip back into Kun's room undetected with her valuable voice recording. But Ada had never been lucky.

There was a loud creak like the desk had scraped across the floor and a _thud_ like someone falling to the floor. Then there were three distinct gunshots, a grunt, and then silence except the man breathing heavily.

"You couldn't play by my rules," he said, and suddenly Ada understood what a sneer was; "now I'm going to have to murder the children. Shame."

The safe thing to do would be to stay in the wardrobe. But there were lives to be saved.

She burst out of the wardrobe, hoping she had the element of surprise on her side, and surveyed the room in a momentary sweep of her eyes. The desk had, indeed, moved and tipped over. Papers were scattered everywhere. Sophie lay on her back in the midst of the mess, bleeding from three different gunshot wounds – one in her chest, one in her neck, one in her head. No one could survive that. She was definitely dead.

Ada wasted no more time. She sprang, catlike, at the surprised man who stood in the doorway, bringing him down easily. She kicked him in the head and then twisted his arm back, breaking it, and causing him to drop the clumsy handgun he had just used. He started screaming, and Ada whacked his head off the wall, knocking him unconscious and shutting him up.

She sighed and slumped back against the wall. Jia, Kun's older sister, emerged from a doorway down the hall, clutching a hockey stick and looking fearful.

"Hi," Ada said, attempting to look nonchalant.

"Who the hell are you?" Jia dropped the hockey stick, shocked. "What the hell is _going on_? Mum!"

"Uh…I don't think you want to see this." Ada stood up and pulled the study door closed.

"Why, what happened?" Jia looked terrified.

"It's…I'm Ada," Ada said finally, "I'm Kun's friend. I'm going to call in some people and get everything sorted out. Go get Xiang, Shun and Kun and comfort them, ok?"

"Comfort them about what?" Jia asked, refusing to believe what Ada was sure she already knew. She gave the tall, naïve Chinese girl a long, hard look and she immediately broke down in tears.

"Actually, maybe it's better to let them sleep. Come sit with me, Jia, and we'll get all this cleaned up and you can go home to live with your dad."

Jia moved down the hall, past the unconscious man and slumped down against the wall next to Ada, who pulled out her phone and called Connor.

* * *

The cleanup team arrived promptly. The Ingram children were led away by Gabrielle and a woman in glasses. Em, Ai, and Caitlin were taken home, all of them visibly traumatised.

Just before Kun got into Gabrielle's car, she turned and looked for a long, meaningful second at Ada. It was as if she knew. Well, it wasn't hard to guess.

"We got your bug, Ada," Connor said, sounding tired, "you did a good job tonight. You saved seven lives." He didn't add what Ada was thinking; _you could have saved eight._

Ada knew it was pointless to blame herself, and Sophie was an arms dealer, or a suspected arms dealer anyway, and with the evidence Ada had collected it was fairly certain she was selling drugs or weapons.

"You don't need to stay here," Connor told her, "let's get you back to the house. The others are packing up. I think Meryn's done most of your packing for you."

Ada nodded, feeling ill. Her first mission and someone was dead. After retrieving the overnight bag she'd brought to the sleepover a million years ago she allowed Connor to pass her off to a member of the cleanup team, who drove her back to the house in a Cherub minivan.

She was met with hugs and congratulations, but none of it meant anything. She went to the bedroom she shared with Meryn and lay on the bed, finally letting tears come.

Meryn joined her after half an hour and handed her a mug of tea.

"You did a good job," she said softly, "there was nothing else you could've done."

"I guess," Ada said, sitting up and sipping the tea, "I just feel…I dunno…weird."

"That's normal…I think," Meryn patted her on the shoulder sadly.

"I just want to be home, at Cherub."

"Then finish packing, and meet us at the car."

**Thanks for reading! This story is very nearly finished. However I see another sequel in the future…**

**Please review, I love hearing what you think! **


	9. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB, or i, Robot**

**NOTE: This story may contain violence and mild bad language. If you will be offended by these things, do not read and certainly don't complain. You have been warned. **

**Epilogue**

_One week later_

Ada was curled up in a large, winged armchair in the newly opened, improved library. A book was open in her lap – _I, Robot _by Isaac Asimov – and she was well and truly engrossed. She had found herself doing that more and more often recently; losing herself in books. It provided an escape from the thoughts which assaulted her at any time her mind was not occupied.

Many people had told her that she was in no way responsible for Sophie Ingram's death, and the rational side of her agreed, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she could have done something.

It would take a while to get over that feeling, but she was confident that she would. Eventually.

"Hey stranger."

Ada looked up. Kade was hobbling towards her on crutches, a messenger bag slung across his shoulders. It looked heavy, and full. He must have some serious studying to do.

"Oh, hello."

"Asimov? Really?"

"Why are you surprised? I _love_ classic science fiction."

"I guess I don't know much about you yet," Kade shrugged, "but I'm sure we'll get to know each other better."

"Sure." Ada wasn't sure what this was supposed to mean.

"I've got something for you." Kade sat down in the armchair opposite her, standing his crutches against the armrest. He opened his messenger bag. "I overheard Lauren talking to Mr. Adams – your "uncle" James – and I just begged her to let me give this to you. It took a long time and an exceedingly annoying, whiney voice before she let me."

"The suspense is killing me. Just tell me!" Ada huffed.

Kade drew out of his messenger bag a navy shirt.

With shaking hands, Ada reached for it.

"For…for me?" She gasped, feeling the material, savouring it, as though she thought it would be taken from her. "Why?"

"You may have this crazy guilt thing going on about Sophie Ingram, which is completely unfounded by the way, but remember you indisputably saved seven lives that night. That's why. Lauren's exact words were "for outstanding bravery.""

Ada blushed.

"I just did what anyone else would have done in my situation."

"If it had been me in that wardrobe, I would have stayed there. The guy had a gun."

"So, this is real? Not some sick joke?"

"No, it's real," Kade assured her, "go put it on!"

Ada dropped her book onto the armchair, grinning.

"Ok." Her voice held a smile.

"Oh, and Ada? I promise I won't spill Dr. Pepper on that one."

**Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end! Please review, I love hearing what you think. **

**There is a sequel to Ada's CHERUB on the horizon. I can't give exact details yet, but I'm fairly sure it will be called "Hidden Away" and will take place three years after the events of this story, when Ada is fourteen. These details are not set in stone, it's just what I'm thinking now.**

**A great big THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed so far, and a thanks-in-advance to those of you about to review, which **_**I'm sure you are**_**. **

**Bye for now.**

**~100-percent-nerd**


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